www.ukbutterflies.co.uk

My brother has informed me that there are 'lots' of Painted Ladies in Dubai at the moment.
He is not a butterfly watcher but he normally lets me know when he sees something butterfly related. He has lived there for more than 10 years and not commented on this before, the fact that he has noticed probably indicates this is slightly unusual.
I don't know if there is any correlation between big migrations into the UK preceded by large numbers in other locations.
I just thought this was worth mentioning.

I read somewhere recently that it has been a wet winter in North Africa - this can favour a build up of Painted Lady numbers, triggering northward migration. We shall see!

Dave

Many years ago (45 by my reckoning), I was wandering in a public park in Nairobi, Kenya. There was all manner of unfamiliar tropical species enjoying the flowering shrubs and bedding plants. But in some respects, perhaps the most exciting was a single Painted Lady.

Jack

The 2009 invasion was preceded by exceptionally green conditions in Morocco. A student of mine said the old folk of Marrakech were talking of nothing else in the Kasbah. The causal relation between the weather in North Africa and painted ladies in Sussex is doubtless more complex than just this, but here's to hoping ...

Guy

I was in Kuwait a couple of weeks ago and Painted Lady were everywhere. Even at the airport where you could see them flying outside the terminal. Approximately one every 10 seconds, all heading north. Although I doubt their offspring would get here - and I wasn't sure if this was considered "normal" in that part of the world!

Cheers,

- Pete